I've been thinking about this while watching Texas Tech and Oklahoma score touchdowns on almost every drive...Is it really the QB's? Or could the secondaries just be that poor? And how do you tell?
Sure Orakpo and the Big 12 D-lines are solid, but what about the cornerbacks and safeties? You would think that if the secondary matched up AT ALL with the wide receivers that you wouldn't see 40 and 50 points on the Big 12 scoreboard every week.
I truly don't have an answer here and I welcome any insight you in the Peanut Gallery might provide.
Here's my take (which, by the way, does not answer the question at all): The Big 12 QB's - McCoy, Reesing, Harrell, Robinson, Bradford, Griffin, Daniel, Hawkins, Freeman - are good, there's no doubt about that. They all had pretty good high school careers, were highly recruited, and have had good coaching along the way, I'm sure. But I don't care how good a bunch of quarterbacks are, if half the conference has passing completion percentages in the high 60's and 70's, there's something wrong with who they're passing against.
Which brings us to the Big 12 secondary. I'm sure these guys traveled the same route as the quarterbacks (good high school career, highly recruited, good coaching), so where is the disconnect? Do they put all of the truly talented players on offense in the Big 12? If you're fast, savvy, and athletic, do you become a quarterback, running back, or wide receiver automatically down South? I can't imagine the Big 12 does things much differently than the rest of the country, so it would be hard to believe that to be true.
Maybe the Big 12 should start playing some of their quarterbacks in the secondary...Players have played both sides of the ball before...So, why not? Obviously, that's not the answer, but it does seem odd that almost the entire conference has been so successful in the passing game and I'm not totally sold that the Big 12 quarterbacks are that good.
Any ideas? Because, so far, I can't figure it out...
Showing posts with label recruiting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recruiting. Show all posts
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Why the Big Ten can't compete with the SEC and Big 12...yet
Look, it's not Rocket Science that the SEC and Big 12 are the two best conferences in the country, but what is a little more confusing is WHY that is the case. After all, Pennsylvania and Ohio are two of the biggest recruiting pipelines in the country. Why does it seem like the SEC and Big 12 keep on beating up on the "slow" Big ten? I'm going to answer this question with some Fact vs. Fiction statements. Read on...
Fact: The SEC and Big 12 have recruited better all-around athletes in the last 5-8 years.
Fiction: The Big Ten is slow.
Reasoning: Look, the Big Ten is NOT slow. You don't have success like the Big Ten has had (regardless of the National Championships) without having speed. Whoever started this ridiculous rumor should be fired...and anyone continuing to spread this rumor should be fired and then hidden from the public.
That said, there is a difference between the conferences, but it is not as simple as speed vs. no-speed...It is overall athleticism. A talented athlete has more than just speed and the SEC and Big 12 have had better success recruiting this kind of talent.
Fact: The Big Ten has as many NFL prospects as the SEC and Big 12
Fiction: The Big Ten has just as much talent as the SEC and Big 12
Reasoning: Sure, the Big Ten has a ton of NFL prospects, sometimes more than the SEC and Big 12 in the last few years, but it is because the Big Ten has up until recently been recruiting "position" players. These types of players fulfill their role perfectly, but can't necessarily make big things happen on their own. In college, big-play type players can directly affect the outcome of a game, hence the success of the SEC and Big 12 (Tim Tebow and Vince Young, anyone?). In the NFL, however, things change.
In the NFL, your position is your job and because everyone's doing their job well, you have to too. It is the reason players like Graham Harrell are projected higher than Tim Tebow going to the NFL and why Vince Young has struggled mightily at the next level. Everyone in College football would rather have Tebow than Harrell because of his big-play ability, but in the NFL, that's simply not enough.
Bottomline: If I'm an NFL scout, I go to just as many Big Ten games as the SEC and Big 12, but when it comes to building a football team at the NCAA level, I am on the recruiting trail looking for athletes with big-play ability. The Big Ten is starting to figure out what the SEC and Big 12 already knew, but it's going to be a couple of years before the results begin to show. Terelle Pryor is definitely a step in the right direction.
Fact: The SEC and Big 12 have recruited better all-around athletes in the last 5-8 years.
Fiction: The Big Ten is slow.
Reasoning: Look, the Big Ten is NOT slow. You don't have success like the Big Ten has had (regardless of the National Championships) without having speed. Whoever started this ridiculous rumor should be fired...and anyone continuing to spread this rumor should be fired and then hidden from the public.
That said, there is a difference between the conferences, but it is not as simple as speed vs. no-speed...It is overall athleticism. A talented athlete has more than just speed and the SEC and Big 12 have had better success recruiting this kind of talent.
Fact: The Big Ten has as many NFL prospects as the SEC and Big 12
Fiction: The Big Ten has just as much talent as the SEC and Big 12
Reasoning: Sure, the Big Ten has a ton of NFL prospects, sometimes more than the SEC and Big 12 in the last few years, but it is because the Big Ten has up until recently been recruiting "position" players. These types of players fulfill their role perfectly, but can't necessarily make big things happen on their own. In college, big-play type players can directly affect the outcome of a game, hence the success of the SEC and Big 12 (Tim Tebow and Vince Young, anyone?). In the NFL, however, things change.
In the NFL, your position is your job and because everyone's doing their job well, you have to too. It is the reason players like Graham Harrell are projected higher than Tim Tebow going to the NFL and why Vince Young has struggled mightily at the next level. Everyone in College football would rather have Tebow than Harrell because of his big-play ability, but in the NFL, that's simply not enough.
Bottomline: If I'm an NFL scout, I go to just as many Big Ten games as the SEC and Big 12, but when it comes to building a football team at the NCAA level, I am on the recruiting trail looking for athletes with big-play ability. The Big Ten is starting to figure out what the SEC and Big 12 already knew, but it's going to be a couple of years before the results begin to show. Terelle Pryor is definitely a step in the right direction.
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